our crews have been on the roads since early this morning and will show us some of the hardest hit areas. good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 midday." i'm barbara harrison. it's wednesday, february 5th, 2014. we start with passengers stuck on a marc train. let's go to aaron gilchrist at the newsdesk. good morning. >> good morning. we learned 130 passengers stuck on this train now, left the brunswick station. i want to show you photos e-mailed to us by a passenger on that train. you can see damage to a window here. as we understand it, a little earlier this morning, the train on the brunswick line was headed east when a tree fell on it, and took down a web of power lines, and did that damage to the train. you see the tree on top of some of the lines here. this all as a result of the icing that they got in the frederick county area earlier today. as we understand at this point, about a mile east of the brunswick station. train does still have power. at this point, we don't believe anyone on that train has been

hurt. but marc has to wait until csx, power crews can come in, cut all of the power to the live wires that are on the train right now, and then try to figure out how to get the train back to the brunswick station and the people to safety. 130 people stuck on that train right now. again, no one, we believe, at this point has been hurt as a result of what's happened there. we'll keep an eye on this. we have a crew headed to the scene, and i'm talking to the folks in the first floor traffic office. as soon as we get new information, we'll bring that to you. >> thank you, aaron. now, a powerful winter storm is pummelling much of the northeast. more than a foot of snow could fall in parts of new england. we avoided much of that snow. but we're still dealing with slick roads from freezing rain. dozens of schools across our area are closed or opening late. frederick, maryland, is dealing with widespread power out ands, too. we checked with potomac edison, and 2,800 customers have no power. here's a live look outside right now where we are starting to dry out. storm team4 meteorologist tom

kierein joins us with the first forecast. tom? >> yeah, it was frederick county, maryland, parts of loudon county that got hit hardest by the icing overnight, that has now pretty much ended. storm team4 radar showing now the last of the rain, and now it's just rain, no longer freezing, because we are getting above freezing, it's in montgomery county, prince george's county, howard county, northern anne arundel, continuing to pull away. a few sprinkles lingering in southern prince george's county, into calvert. here is how much ice fell overnight. just a light glaze south and east of washington. there's washington. generally a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch fell in the northern and western suburb, but farther north and west, from montgomery county, loudon county, over a quart of an inch. a few spots in frederick county, some of the spots in washington, panhandle of west virginia, got half an inch of ice. and that, with some of the weaker trees, causing some of the tree limbs to snap off, coming down, and bringing power lines down.

so as a result, we've got those thousands without power north and west of the metro area now. and as we look at temperatures, it is getting above freezing. in the mid-30s around the region and we'll get even warmer this afternoon. the next threat is ice falling out of the trees as we get a rapid melting into the afternoon. and maybe a storm for the weekend. we'll look at that, too, coming up in just a few minutes. barbara? >> thank you, tom. the ice has started to melt for much. the region, but according to storm team4 meteorologists, another refreeze could be on the way. melissa is live where she monitored the ice storm. how's it looking out there now? what a beautiful sight behind you. >> reporter: barbara, it really is quite pretty when you don't have to drive around in it. this is a corner that depicts everything we've seen in frederick this morning. we have seen theryreeavy, and h over or broken off. take a look here, the sidewalk a complete sheet of ice. the grass here, look at this, and even one in my hands here,

encased in ice. every blade of grass looks like that. it is nasty, crazy, and quite a wild morning. rain pouring down. ice-covered roads, ice-encrusted branches. street signs and traffic signals bedazzled with icicles, a slick, slippery, slide-y trip to anywhere. >> we're due for it. the last couple of years have been easy, and we're spoiled. >> reporter: plow drivers treating the roads, clearing the ice for hours unend. tired? hungry? over it? >> yeah, all of it. >> reporter: the ice easily snapping tree branches, one falling as we were live on air. be really careful -- whoa. oh. another one. >> the pine tree just fell from across the street on top of the cars. >> reporter: we can hear them coming down -- >> it's been like that since 4:00. we can hear it. >> reporter: branches everywhere blocking roads, bringing down

power lines. >> as i came out, a tree branch fell. >> reporter: houses dark for blocks. traffic lights unlit, even at this sheetz off 15. no power. crews are starting the cleanup early. >> i woke up to some explosions, loud noises, and i thought it was the trash truck at first. >> reporter: not a trash truck, though. a transformer exploding off rosemont avenue. >> just got to take it slow. you can't be in a hurry. safety first. >> reporter: it's a day that ey wait without power.ome not mike vaughn, though. >> we've got two fireplaces, and we've got them toasting up the house. >> reporter: hoping perhaps this is our last brutal blast. >> i've been paying attention to the farmers almanac, and it's holding true. i mean, it says it will be a bad winter. >> reporter: our meteorologists were predicting this, as well. >> oh, really? >> reporter: they were right, too. >> oh, good, good. >> reporter: potomac edison

saying 28,000 people without power, 10,000 without power, and it could be days before power is restored, because they're bringing crews ridge fally se s sent over to cumberland back over here. we see how it looks. richard jordan? >> reporter: we've got plenty of ice around here, too, although it is starting to melt pretty quickly. still the impact has taken effect. a lot of schools in the area have either been delayed or cancelled. there's also several businesses that have been affected. take this patio furniture store here. they've got their inventory laid

-- even salt truck has icicles on their blades. still, road crews hit the road about every 20 minutes to treat the streets. the drivers started early, since last night. bridges and overpasses got the most attention. >> been out here since about 10:00 last night, putting sand, salt down, going back and forth. >> reporter: the road crews kept at it. the consistent treatment helped make the morning commute smooth and problem-free for many drivers out in the thick of it. >> just as long as you drive slow, take your time, i think it's mainly just rain. so i would say the beltway's pretty good. >> reporter: and julio rodriguez did have a friend to actually get the ice off his truck. they were taking turns.

that might be a good tip for those at the furniture store, if they want to clear this ice away. although, if they wait a couple of hours, it will probably just melt. as we go into the afternoon, there's a lot of cars that still have a thin sheet of ice on the hood or roof of the car. once the vehicles head out onto the highway, the sheets of ice are sliding off, so watch out for the flying ice. reporting live in tysons, richard jordan, news4. back to you. >> all right, thank you. if you need to catch a flight, get ready to spend more time at the airport than you do on the airplane. looking live at reagan national. we checked flightaware, and it says nearly 80 flights are cans theed there, and at dulles, 40, bwi, the airport says they did pretreat runways before the freezing rain started. it's bad across the country, too. already nearly 2,500 flights have been cancelled nationwide. and that number is expected to rise. the best way to keep up with all of the closings and

cancellations in your area is get the storm team4 weather app. it will give you the latest forecasts from our own meteorologists. you can download it for free. search nbc washington weather on google play or the iphone app store. we're working to find out what was taken cure during a robbery in montgomery county. it happened before 4:00 this morning at a radioshack on colesville road in silver spring. police haven't released much information, and just yesterday, robbers hit a subway sandwich shop in burtonsville. they got away with cash and the surveillance camera. there've been more than 30 similar robberies in the area since november. and new today, the u.n. is placing blame this morning for child sex abuse in the catholic church. coming up, the harsh allegations the group is leveling. plus, a new announcement from the retailer cvs. we're going to tell you what's being taken out of their stores. stay with us.

we have an update on the breaking news we reported at the top of our newscast. passengers stuck on a marc train. paulette has more for us. good morning. >> good morning. >> start by telling us exactly how the train got stuck, and where is it right now? >> well, the train is one mile east of the brunswick station. train 878 had, first of all, picked up passengers from train 874, which had stopped because of a downed tree around 6:30 in the morning. and then, around -- so those passengers boarded 878 and then, at 7:02, the 878 was struck by a tree, which also took out a bunch of power lines.

so the train has not only trees and a tree, but live power lines all around it. >> okay. so how many people are on that train right now? >> well, because these are passengers from 874 as well as 878, it's about 130 people. >> wow, a lot of people standing, i suppose, huh? >> well, the train has heat and lights, so they are warm. >> okay. so what's the plan to try to get them off the train? >> well, i am pleased to say that an electrician has just arrived, and he's working on severing those live power lines. and they're hoping now that they should be able to get the train moving in the next 15 minutes or the next half hour. >> okay. well, we will stand by to hear from you how things are moving. thanks so much, paulette ostrich, with marc train service. thanks again. >> thank you, bye-bye. and new this morning, the vatican says it regrets the united nations' attempt to interfere with church teaching.

the u.n. blasted the vatican for its policy on child sex abuse. it said it allowed priests to rape and molest children for decades. they're calling on the u.s. church to open files on pedophiles. the u.n. criticizes the church for attitudes on homosexuality, contraception, and abortion. the report came as pope frances held his weekly address at the vatican. now, the director of the cbo is testifying on capitol hill. the hearing takes place one day after a report from his office was released and in it what the new health care law is doing to jobs. and for more on that, we're joined by domenico montanaro, nbc's deputy political editor. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about that report. are we losing jobs or gaining jobs because of the affordable care act? >> well, first, anything the cbo does is a projection, and what they project is there will be 2.5 million fewer jobs.

now, what the way republicans took that to mean was the health care law means that the economy won't grow, that there will be fewer jobs. but what the cbo actually says is that it's people who are mostly baby boomers, going to be retiring, who might be right on the cusp of saying, i'm going to hang on for five more years until i get my medicare, and what they're really -- what they wind up doing, you know what, i don't need this job. i'm going -- because of the affordable care act, i can actually afford health care, or i can qualify for medicaid if i get off of -- get out of my job, so i can get health care. a lot of people staying on their jobs for health care, this will be a voluntary choice. it gives people actually a lot of flexibility, but that won't stop the political argument. >> so the report does say losing jobs, but i think you explained what it did say. >> yeah, a lot of nuance. >> the republicans are grabbing onto this -- >> no question, a political headache for democrats when it comes to 2014 midterms, because nuance is not something that's easily understandable by a lot

of people, for sure, and what's going to wind up happening is you'll see 30-second ads plastered across the country against every vulnerable red state democrat that says obamacare costs jobs. >> let's change the subject and talk about an "american idol" thinking about jumping into politics. >> clay aiken, the runner-up, i think, in 2003, hard to believe it was that long ago, but he's a special education teacher actually in north carolina. he's going to run for the second congressional district there. renee elmers is the incumbent republican. what's interesting about his kickoff ad, you know, he really -- he goes right to the living room of where he says he had an abusive father. he talks about income inequality, the need to work with kids with special needs, and he also did something -- i think he's the only candidate, the first time since president bush left office, to actually say something positive about president bush, because he was appointed to a special needs council. the only other person i'd seen,

even had a fairly positive mention of bush was ed gillespie, running in virginia, where you see a picture of bush come up -- >> he has a recognizable game for millennials in particular. >> it's an uphill battle for him, but definitely a recognizable name. >> all right. thank you so much, domenico. for more from domenico and the rest of the team, check out first read on nbcnews.com. and storm team4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us now to talk about this weather. don't tell me, we have another one coming? >> you know, the big hashtag, this morning that's trending, enoughalready. i think people are pretty sick of this weather. again, we got punched with an ice storm overnight, as you saw the pictures from melissa areas got hit hard, and i love this picture, ice turned this birdhouse into a jailhouse. >> oh, yeah, my goodness, it does look like bars. >> and the jail bird flew the

coop, i think. this was posted by david winkleman in frederick county, and that area got quite a bit of ice. up to half an inch in some location, as well as northeloud county, and most of the rain, it's no longer freezing rain. it is now generally exiting the region and moving off quickly. still quite a bit of low cloudiness around. how much ice dg we get? well, just a glaze eastern suburbs and around washington, maybe a tenth of an inch, and nearby suburbs in fairfax, montgomery county, a tenth to a quarter of an inch, the northern part of montgomery county, into western fairfax, and north and west, loudon, frederick, washington county, panhandle of west virginia, northern shenandoah valley, up to half an inch of ice on the tree limbs and power lines there. as a result, we had power outages, thousands are without power, especially in frederick county, parts of loudon county as a result. there's the view from our storm team4 sky watcher camera

overlooking washington. normally, we can see the national cathedral in this view, but it is not there because of low clouds and a little bit of fog around. we're in the mid-30s now. but sunshine beginning to break out in the mountains where it's in the 40s. petersburg at 44. we'll probably see some clearing into the afternoon, maybe sunshine breaking out. there's the hour-by-hour forecast as we do get some sun breaking out. we ought to climb into the 40s. a lot of the ice is going to begin to melt and coming down off the trees, and that will be happening now all the way into the afternoon. and then, as we get into late evening, back down to near freezing by midnight. patchy ice around late tonight, tomorrow morning, what does not dry out. and all eye turn toward the weekend, a chance for maybe a winter storm coming close, and a look at that with chuck bell. >> good morning, tom. good morning once again, everybody. the meltdown is on out here on the storm team4 weather deck. thermometer reads 35 degrees and all of the icicles are starting to disappear, so improving from here.

the weekend storment we've been watching this very, very carefully. here's what we think. each progressive computer run takes the storm farther offshore and a little bit weaker, and that all indicates less snow. and even lower chances of snow. so the potential for the weekend storm, the timing, the type, the trend, the timing is now more of a saturday night into early sunday morning. it's still going to be cold enough, if we get something, it should still be mostly snow, but the trend continues to be for less and not more. and in forecasting terms, as we know, the trend is your friend. so we're going with less. >> that is right. thanks, chuck. and then tomorrow, we'll get sunshine, colder weather, upper 30s, partly sunny friday, high near 40, and the possibility of the light snow, again, late saturday into midday sunday, and a cold start to next week. we should have temperatures in the 30s on monday into tuesday. might get a little light snow on tuesday. barbara? >> all right, thank you, tom. and we are less than 24 hours away from the start of the

competition at the winter olympics. ahead of the game, the city of sochi continues to get ready. coming up, how they're dealing with a major dog problem there, and the show that is sure to keep you tapping your toes. stomp returns to our area. we have a preview for you right here. first, here's a look at "what's hot" on nbcwashington.com.

just two days now until the opening ceremony of the winter games, the olympic torch is now at the sochi venues. just a couple of hours ago, one of the final torch bearers ran into the town square in the mountain cluster, and while excitement is building with action about to begin tomorrow, russia is dealing with another p.r. problem. controversy is brewing this morning over how the country is handling sochi's stray dogs.

news4's jim handly has more on the actions causing such a stir. >> reporter: this is a disturbing story. as tight as security has been for people around here, dogs seem to have the run of the place. now, a pest control company says it's been hired in sochi to exterminate them. since we've been here, we have seen them everywhere. take a look at some pictures that we shot in recent days. we saw them wandering the streets, sidewalks, around venues and in neighborhoods. they tend to gather near construction sites that also seem to be everywhere. they can find food from migrant workers. the city has thousands of stray dogs. the ones we saw seem to be harmless and approachable, but there have been reports of some biting kids. sochi city hall last year announced a contract to catch and dispose of stray dogs, but animal activists protested, and officials backed off and pledged to build animal shelters, but no shelter's been built. shooting stray dogs has been common practice in many russian regions. the head of the pest control company in the sochi region

refused to say how many dogs they kill a year, calling it, quote, a commercial secret. told the associated press, a dog recently ran into the stadium behind me where the opening ceremony will be held. he said, if that happens during the ceremony, it will be a disgrace for the whole country. now, there are reports that some have been poisoned. one thing that we can say in the past five days since we have arrived, we have noticed fewer roaming around on the roads. back to you for now. >> all right, jim. and coming up in about 25 minutes, a surprise announcement from one of team usa's biggest names. the difficult decision snowboarder shaun white made this morning. a major announcement from cvs. what the retailer has decided to take out of all of its stores and how president obama is reacting today. we're also watching our weather improve by the hour. storm am 4 meteorologist tom kierein is back with what we can expect for the rest of this week. and we'll check on how this winter weather is affecting our supply of salt for the roadways. [ male announcer ] when your small business has the power

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i'm aaron gilchrist at the news4 live desk, where we just learned that billie jean king will not lead the delegation to sochi this week. we're just getting this word. a statement saying that her mother is in failing health, and as a result, she will not be able to attend the winter olympics. of course, president obama chose her to be a part of the delegation going to sochi, just this past december. and partly that was seen as a statement by the u.s. to some of the anti-gay laws that russia has been enforcing as of late. billie jean king, two other members of the u.s. delegation to the olympics, the -- to the olympic opening ceremonies, openly gay athletes. and so, now word today that she will not attend the games. no statement from the white house just yet. we don't know if the president will choose someone to replace her at this point. aaron gilchrist at the live desk. >> thank you, aaron.

this morning, president barack obama is praising cvs pharmacy for its decision to stop selling tobacco products at its drugstores. in a statement, he says, as one of the largest retailers and pharmacies in america, cvs caremark sets a powerful example, and today's decision will help advance my administration's effort to reduce tobacco-related deaths, cancer, and heart disease, as well as bring down health care costs. nbc's tom costello reports on the major development concerning one of the nation's biggest pharmacy chains. >> reporter: the news this morning could be the start of something very big. one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country saying "no" to tobacco. by october 1st, all tobacco product also be off the shelves at cvs. cvs president helena folks says it simply makes no sense for cvs employees to sell cigarettes and chewing tobacco. >> they are working with our patients and our customers who have chronic conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol and diabetes, and we

know that smoking is extreme ly against helping people with health care needs. >> reporter: it will cost cvs $2 billion in revenue, but it comes as it transitions to a health care pharmacy, focusing on pharmacy services. will other pharmacy retailers feel pressure to ban tobacco? >> we're not talking about other drugstores. we're also talking about some of the big-box retailers who also have pharmacies, as well. >> reporter: for years, pressure has been building on pharmacies to stop selling tobacco. from the american pharmacists, heart, lung, medical association and the cancer society, coming as the fda unveils a new ad campaign aimed at teenage smokers. >> what's a pack of smokes cost? your teeth. >> most adult smokers take it up when they're younger than the age of 18. so we want to reach those kids who might be starting a lifelong

deadly habit. >> reporter: this morning, a fresh attempt to snuff out tobacco. it isn't without cost. cvs says it will lose $1.5 billion on the sell of tobacco items, another $500,000 for items people shop for when they shop for tobacco. walgreens says it will continue to evaluate the choice of products while helping to educate them and provide alternatives to reduced demand for tobacco productions at their stores. all this wintry weather taking a toll on the roadways out there and causing a road salt shortage. that's causing some places to think outside the box when it comes to prepping highways, using what they have at their disposal. in pennsylvania, one county is trying a product called beet heat, made of beet sugars and in wisconsin, they're stretching the salt mixture by mixing it with cheese brine. tom kierein has the latest on our forecast.

he's outside on the storm team4 weather deck, and we still have precipitation? >> no, actually, i'm standing under a tree and it's shedding ice and water, and i'm protecting myself from that. no more rain falling here, just the ice melting off the trees. big blobs of ice coming down here and hitting my umbrella. you can probably hear it. this will continue into the afternoon. elsewhere, we're in the mid-30s, and even hitting the 40s out in the mountains where some sunshine's beginning to break out there. we might get a little sunshine later this afternoon, as we climb into the 40s. more rapid melting. so watch out if you're going to be walking under any trees. you'll need an umbrella, even though there is no more rain falling around the region. we'll have this with us during the afternoon, this falling ice and rapid melting. and then tomorrow, freezing up again, what doesn't dry up

it blocks their ability to get high from the heroin, and it also protects them from any of the negative effects of the respiratory -- the lowering of the breathing if they do overdose or try to take too much. you can get implants of this, and then another medication which not only helps take the cravings down for heroin, but it also blocks your ability to get high on heroin, as well. so there are treatments out there. >> the reports are that seymour hoffman was using intravenus heroin. is that the usual way it's used? >> well, so, i don't see a lot of patients in my practice who are using intravenusly, although i do see some. the reason people will use it intrava intraveinously, people will experience the most rapid high. i'm seeing people using it by snorting it, but you can also smoke it. those are the three main ways -- snorting, smoking and injecting. >> is it popular among young people, too? >> it is. it is. i'm seeing this -- in fact, yesterday, i saw a 21-year-old girl who's been abusing heroin. yoreorts of

different sort of dances. >> a lot of percussion. >> my brother was in the show. so he inspired me. >> how about you, andre? >> a singer and dancer back in hawaii, me and my brothers toured the islands, hawaiian islands, and flew out to l.a. to audition for the show, to be a part of something. >> wow, exciting. and we all know it's a fabulous show. >> yes. >> you get a lot of energy -- and you ha to have a lot for this. >> yes, we do. >> you don't need a lot for what you'll show us right now. >> not right now. we'll do matchboxes, some real original, from england. >> go for it. >> all right. ♪ ♪

>> and more olympic news now from news44's aaron gilchrist at the live desk. aaron? >> we heard from our team in russia for the olympic games. the u.s. -- team usa flag bearer for these games will be todd lodwick, named to that position, six-time winter olympian, won a silver medal in a team event back in the 2010 games in vancouver, and now he will lead 230 american olympic athletes as they enter the olympic games for the opening ceremonies on friday night. barbara? >> what an honor. thanks a lot, aaron. and you can stay connected to the games anytime with our nbc washington news app. there's an olympics tab, and if you turn on breaking news alert, we'll push the latest from the games right to your phone. you can download it on the app store or on google play. and we're following several developing stories for you. more than 100 passengers are stuck on a marc train near the brunswick station right now. take a look. this is one of several trees that hitt